FAANG Stocks Holding Strong in February 2019

It’s no secret that the FAANG stocks as a group (FB, AMZN, AAPL, NFLX, GOOG) didn’t fare well at all in the latter part of last year. In fact, all of them took substantial dives from October to late December, along with the entire market. When the dust settled, all five FAANG stocks were at one point or another in bear markets (20% or more below their most recent highs) in late 2018. This year, however, it’s an entirely different story. FAANG stocks are holding strong as of February 2019 – some exceptionally so.

What are FAANG Stocks?

If you’re not familiar with the FAANG acronym, it’s a variation of the term, FANG. FANG was coined by CNBC’s Jim Cramer. It originally stood for a handful of the largest and best-performing tech stocks: FB (Facebook), AMZN (Amazon), NFLX (Netflix), and GOOG (Alphabet). AAPL (Apple) was later added on (it’s unclear why it was excluded in the first place) to coin the new acronym, FAANG.

How are FAANG Stocks Doing This Year So Far?

While all five FAANG stocks are positive and doing well year to date, some are doing much better than others. Here’s a breakdown of these stocks in descending order of recent performance. We include both their current prices and year-to-date performance numbers (as of the market close on 2/8/2019):

Clearly, NFLX and FB have been the major outperformers, at least for the first month-and-a-week of this year. AAPL, AMZN, and GOOG have trailed the FAANG leaders but have still held their own. They’ve all at least rebounded well from December’s disastrous market dive.

FAANG Companies on the Rebound

Facebook was plagued by scandals and privacy issues in 2018, but has been among the strongest rebound stocks in FAANG this year. This was especially the case after its robust late-January earnings release.

Netflix announced another subscriber price increase shortly before its mid-January earnings event. It didn’t seem to bother investors at all – in fact, they cheered the decision by boosting the stock.

In early January, Apple CEO Tim Cook sent a letter to investors lowering the company’s revenue forecast on weaker China demand. This prompted a large, one-day gap down for AAPL stock. Apparently, investors aren’t as worried as before about China demand this year, as the stock has had a strong relief rally.

Amazon.com was still fluctuating in and out of a -20% bear market in January and February. The company has been bogged down recently in a scandal involving its CEO Jeff Bezos. Amazon is also reconsidering its much hyped decision to open a headquarters location in New York, due to opposition from locals. Despite the current struggles, though, Amazon has long proven to be exceptionally resilient.

Finally, Alphabet’s early February earnings were strong, helping the stock to extend its year-to-date rebound. As long as the overall market cooperates, the company should be poised for a further recovery.

IMPORTANT: The information above should not be construed as investment advice and should not be considered as a solicitation to buy or sell securities. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Trading and investing in the financial markets involves substantial risk of loss, and may not be suitable for all investors.

Disclosure: At the time of this article’s publication, we have no position in any security or trade/investment mentioned, nor do we have any business relationship with any company whose stock may be mentioned.

As a momentum stock trader, Luke focuses mostly on strong market moves. Luke has been trading the markets since the early 2000s, but still gets excited by big movers. Whether a surging large-cap tech company or meteoric penny stock, Luke tracks and trades winners. A technical analysis purist, Luke authors many of our Top Stocks & ETFs reports. Contact Luke